Card game for wagering

ABSTRACT

A side bet for Blackjack or Twenty-One is made on whether the first two cards deal a player will be a pair, or whether the player can make a multicard hand from his cards an at least one of the dealers cards. The player can get a pair of his own cards, or one of his cards and the dealers, or, in the case where he holds a pair, both of his cards an a dealers card for three of a kind, or both of his cards and the dealers card for four of a kind. While the dealer and the player may be actual human beings, the dealer can be a virtual dealer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to games of chance, particularly to table games used in casino settings, and most particularly to table games used in casino settings that use one or more deck of cards as a source of randomization for the game of chance.

2. State of the Art

The card game known as Blackjack or Twenty-One is a common card game played for recreation and in casinos throughout the world. In Twenty-One the outcome is determined by either the player or the dealer having the highest hand value that does not total more than twenty one as defined by the hand value. The hand value is defined by the total of the cards, and their value is the numerical value of the cards, except that the face cards are all defined to have a value of ten, and the ace may have a value of either one or eleven—whichever makes the best hand. The best hand is the blackjack, the two card hand totaling twenty one, a hand comprising an ace and a ten.

The game is typically played with insurance and doubling down the only side bets normally allowed. Herein, a ‘side bet’ is defined as a bet that requires an additional wager, and is based on an occurrence that may occur given that several cards are dealt which occurrence may or may not affect the ultimate outcome of the game. The two traditional side bets mentioned illustrate the concept. When the dealer shows an ace a player may place a second bet to ‘insure’ that the dealer doesn't have a ten as his down card. If the dealer has some other card than a ten, the player loses the wager for the insurance, play continues for that hand, and the player may still win the hand. The player may ‘double down’ by placing a second bet after the first two cards have been dealt. This bet is a wager that the next card dealt to him, and only that next card, will give him a better hand than the dealer—that is, his three card hand will beat the eventual dealer's hand.

The need for casinos to attract more customers, particularly the casual player who may not fully understand the complexities of the various table games, has caused a recent upsurge in interest, particularly interest by casinos, in developing new easy to understand and play side-bets for established table games. The need has resulted in several innovations in table games found in casinos. Some have filled the need admirably, but gambling consumers are a fickle lot, and the average life time for a variant side bet game is short enough that there remains a continuing need for candidate games.

Several different types of card games and variants on card games have been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,485, issued to Woodland et al. discloses a variant on the twenty one card game wherein the player insures against a ‘stiff’ hand, one having a value from 12 to 16. It pays on odds of 3:2.

Parker proposed another type of variant in U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,946, wherein the player is allowed a second bet to increase the total of the wager during play.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,067 issued to Paulson et al. a system of electronically connecting several twenty-one games is shown. This helps generate large pots and create enthusiasm for the plurality of games being played at the various tables.

In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,494,296 and 5,390,934 both issued to Grasso the talbe is modified so the players can bet on whether the other players will beat the dealer or not. Again this side bet generates enthusiasm for the game.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,992, Josephs combines aspects of poker and blackjack games in a game featuring a series of side bets of a twenty-one game based on the values of poker hands. This game is shown in both a table version and an electronic version.

In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,237,789 and 5,257,789, LaVesseur teaches a method and table layout for betting a single Twenty-One hand dealt to a player against successive dealer hands.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,570 describes the game of Twenty-One modified to include side bets on whether the dealer will bust or get a hand of exactly twenty one.

And in U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,107 Boylan et al. teach a game called ‘Over/Under 13 Blackjack’.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides a side bet for Blackjack or Twenty-One which is made on whether the first two cards deal a player will be a pair, or whether the player can make a multicard hand from his cards an at least one of the dealers cards. The player can get a pair of his own cards, or one of his cards and the dealers, or, in the case where he holds a pair, both of his cards an a dealers card for three of a kind, or both of his cards and the dealers card for four of a kind. While the dealer and the player may be actual human beings, the dealer can be a virtual dealer.

In particular, this invention is a method of playing cards comprising:

-   -   dealing at least one card to a dealer;     -   dealing at least two cards to player;     -   the player making a wager on whether the cards he has been dealt         and the cards the dealer has will form a multiple card poker         hand;     -   revealing the dealers cards and the players cards;     -   handling the wager by one of the possibilities of     -   first paying the wager the player made if a possibility selected         from the possibilities of,     -   a) the player and the dealer have at least one card of the same         rank,     -   b) the player has two cards of the same rank, and     -   c) the player and the dealer have a card of the same rank; and     -   second collecting the wager.

It will be noticed that this invention can easily be used as a side bet for twenty-one.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

While the game described herein could be played as a two handed game between a person identified herein as a dealer and a second person (or virtual person), identified herein as a player (although the game could be played as a solitaire game—perhps for practice—with the same human being playing the roles of both the dealer and the player), this game is most advantageously played as a side bet while the player is playing a game of twenty-one or Blackjack. To fully understand the nature of this game it is necessary to understand the game of twenty-one. Blackjack or Twenty-One is defined herein as a game wherein a first participant, the dealer, who plays for the house, deals two cards both to a second participant, the player, and himself. The player is therefore really playing against the house. The point of the game is for the player to match or beat the dealer's cards without going over twenty one points, called going ‘bust.’ Points are determined by the number of the card: that is a 2 is worth two points, a 3, three points and so forth, up to a 10 being worth ten points. Jacks, Queens, and Kings, the face cards, are all worth ten points and an ace is worth either one point (which is used in a ‘hard’ hand) or eleven points (which is used in a ‘soft’ hand). The best hand is twenty one points, which can be achieved by any number of cards but the two card hand of an ace, counted here as an eleven, and any card worth ten points, a hand called a blackjack, is considered the best.

Herein, a deck of cards will considered to be a deck containing a minimum of fifty two cards including an ace (A), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack (J), Queen (O), and King (K) in the four suites of clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds. J, Q, and K are defined as the face cards. Since for purposes of this invention suites of cards are irrelevant, a two card hand will herein be denoted as 2,7 for a hand containing a two, of any suite, and a seven, of any suite. Other cards may be added to the deck, such as jokers so the total number of cards may well be higher than fifty two. Moreover, from one to eight or more decks or more may used to deal the game. However, the deck used for the game herein described will always contain at least the fifty two cards of the standard deck, and all the cards used in play will be randomly shuffled.

The dealer does not normally participate beyond dealing in most twenty one games, but the dealer may be rotated or may play hands against him self or her self, that is to say, the dealer may also be a player as well. There may be between one and as many as seven players in the normal casino version of the Blackjack or Twenty-One game, although the number of players could be much greater. This invention provides a side bet for Blackjack or Twenty-One. The player participates in the side bet by placing the bet before the cards are dealt. The player then places a bet on the outcome of the twenty one hand, and the dealer deals the first two cards to the player and the first two cards to himself If the side bet has been used, it is determined whether the player wins or loses the side bet before further play continues.

In this case the side bet is whether the player will be ‘dealt’ a pair or other hand with multiples of the same card. There are three ways for the player to win. First, if the player is dealt a pair in his first two cards, for example the dealer has a 3 showing and the player has been dealt two 5s. In this case the player has a pair. In a second variation of the side bet, the dealer has a three showing, and the player has a 5 and a 3. In this case the player has a pair, if the card of the dealer is included. This is termed herein a ‘wild pair’, and relies on a card dealt someone else than the dealer for it to win. In a third variation of the game, the dealer has a three showing and the player is dealt a pair of threes. In this case the player wins because he has three of a kind.

It should be noted that if the dealer shows a J and the player has a 10 and a Q, the player does not win the side bet, although all the cards are of ranks considered in the game of twenty-one to be tens. The winning cards of this game must all be of the same rank.

If the player is dealt two cards of the same rank as his hand, which is a pair in the side bet, he may, at the option of the house, still split his pair and play both hands independently of each other, as in standard blackjack, or the house, at its option, may forbid splitting a pair that wins this side bet.

It will be noted that two pairs are not, in general, a preferred option for this side bet, although they are fully able to be implemented as winning hands in the operation of this game. A hand of two pairs requires four cards, both of the players and both of the dealers, which complicates the game unduly for a hand that is at best a modest payoff. Similarly, four flushes and four straights, while theoretically possible, are usually not preferred.

The odds for winning this game are calculated as shown in table 1: Hand Prob. Pay Return 1 deck Wild Pair 11.2941 3 33.8824 One pair 5.6470 6 33.8824 3 of a kind 0.2304 35 8.0672 4 of a kind 0.0048 250 1.2005 Nothing 82.8235 −1 −82.8235 Hit frequency House advantage 17.165 5.7911 2 deck Wild Pair 12.7926 2 25.5854 One Pair 6.3963 5 31.9817 3 of a kind 0.3799 30 11.3994 4 of a Kind 0.0197 250 4.9477 Nothing 80.4119 −1 −80.4119 Hit Frequency House Advantage 19.5888 6.4970 4 decks Wild Pair 13.5078 2 27.0156 One Pair 6.7539 4 27.0156 3 of a Kind 0.4612 20 9.2248 4 of a Kind 0.0312 200 6.2460 Nothing 79.2458 −1 −79.2458 Hit Frequency House Advantage 20.7542 9.7437 6 Decks Wild Pair 13.7413 2 27.4826 One Pair 6.8706 4 27.4826 3 of a Kind 0.4891 20 9.7835 4 of a Kind 0.03566 200 7.1338 Nothing 78.8631 −1 −78.8631 Hit Frequency House advantage 21.1368 6.9807 8 decks Wild Pair 13.8571 2 27.7143 One Pair 6.9285 4 27.7143 3 of a Kind 0.5032 20 10.0657 4 of a Kind 0.0380 200 7.6017 Nothing 78.6730 −1 −78.6730 Hit Frequency House Advantage 21.3270 5.5768

-   -   where Hand refers to the possible winning hands the player might         have, Prob. refers to the probability of obtaining that hand for         the number of decks used, Pay refers to the most likely payout         the casino would pay, Return is the amount actually paid by the         casino over time (it will be noticed that Return coming back to         the House is denoted as a negative number in the table), Hit         Frequency refers to the percentage of times a player who plays         the side bet will have a winning hand of some kind, and House         Advantage is the percentage amount the house will take over         time. The odds have been calculated for one deck, two decks,         four decks six decks and eight decks, which are the most usual         numbers of decks actually used in casino play. It should be         noted, that although specific payouts have been calculated,         others could be used, if the house so desired. If a house used,         for example, five decks, rough could be interpolated from the         tabular information. Moreover, many more decks could, in theory,         be used. In a virtual game, for example, the computer could play         with an infinity of virtual decks. The odds of that would have         to be independently calculated.

It will of course be instantly appreciated by those with even a passing knowledge of this art, that this game could be played against a virtual dealer, that is, this game could be programmed on a computer quickly and easily by any programmer, and could be played either as a home entertainment, a way of whiling away the hours instead of watching television, or as a slot machine computer game in a casino. If it is played as a casino slot machine game, it could be played as a stand alone game or as a side bet for a twenty-one game, using the payouts as defined in Table 1.

Although this invention has been primarily described in terms of specific examples and embodiments thereof, it is evident that the foregoing description will suggest many alternatives, modifications, and variations to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to embrace as being within the spirit and scope of invention, all such alternatives, modifications, and variations. 

1. A method of playing cards comprising: dealing at least one card to a dealer; dealing at least two cards to player; the player making a wager on whether the cards he has been dealt and the cards the dealer has will form a multiple card poker hand; revealing the dealers cards and the players cards; handling the wager by one of the possibilities of first paying the wager the player made if a possibility selected from the possibilities of, a) the player and the dealer have at least one card of the same rank, b) the player has two cards of the same rank, and c) the player and the dealer have a card of the same rank; and second collecting the wager.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further includes the steps of using the game of claim one as a side bet in a game of twenty-one, and after the step of paying the wager or collecting the wager, the game of twenty-one continiues on.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further includes the steps of a) having the dealer deal at least two cards as the dealer's hand, and b) during the wager settling step, determining whether the two cards of the dealers are of the same rank, and determining whether the cards are of the same rank as the player, allowing the player to have four of a kind.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further includes the steps of paying wagers according to a schedule of: Hand Prob. Pay Return 1 deck Wild Pair 11.2941 3 33.8824 One pair 5.6470 6 33.8824 3 of a kind 0.2304 35 8.0672 4 of a kind 0.0048 250 1.2005 Nothing 82.8235 −1 −82.8235 Hit frequency House advantage 17.165 5.7911 2 deck Wild Pair 12.7926 2 25.5854 One Pair 6.3963 5 31.9817 3 of a kind 0.3799 30 11.3994 4 of a Kind 0.0197 250 4.9477 Nothing 80.4119 −1 −80.4119 Hit Frequency House Advantage 19.5888 6.4970 4 decks Wild Pair 13.5078 2 27.0156 One Pair 6.7539 4 27.0156 3 of a Kind 0.4612 20 9.2248 4 of a Kind 0.0312 200 6.2460 Nothing 79.2458 −1 −79.2458 Hit Frequency House Advantage 20.7542 9.7437 6 Decks Wild Pair 13.7413 2 27.4826 One Pair 6.8706 4 27.4826 3 of a Kind 0.4891 20 9.7835 4 of a Kind 0.03566 200 7.1338 Nothing 78.8631 −1 −78.8631 Hit Frequency House advantage 21.1368 6.9807 8 decks Wild Pair 13.8571 2 27.7143 One Pair 6.9285 4 27.7143 3 of a Kind 0.5032 20 10.0657 4 of a Kind 0.0380 200 7.6017 Nothing 78.6730 −1 −78.6730 Hit Frequency House Advantage 21.3270 5.5768 